The National Horse Identity Program
An update and personal perspective as at Feb. 26/05
By Marnie Somers

Equine Canada held its Annual Convention, February 12-13, 2005 in Ottawa. As part of the business of the Convention, Breeds & Industry Assembly delegates were charged with the task of assessing a proposal put forward by the Equine ID Working Group. Canadian owners of American Quarter Horses were represented at this Assembly by five voting members: Carole Joubert-Gaboury, DVM, Quebec, an AQHA & CQHA Director; Gayle Pawley-Wilson, British Columbia, an AQHA & CQHA Director; Marnie Somers, Manitoba, an AQHA Director and the current CQHA President; Al Patterson and Laurie Haughton, both of Ontario, and both CQHA members.

The proposal is for a national identification program for all equids (horses and donkeys) in Canada, based on an official Horse Identification Record contained in a central Equine ID database owned and managed by the horse industry. There has been considerable anxiety expressed in the equine media, and by individual horse owners with respect to this proposal.

As a member of the original National ID Task Force, which later became the Equine ID Working Group, I have a good working knowledge of this proposal, and how it was discussed and developed during various meetings. I don’t believe my opinion on the proposed system is either biased or compromised, simply because I am now better informed than most, on the details of this plan, and its implications for horse owners in the sectors/regions with which I am familiar. That being said, my personal opinion is not to be considered the official opinion of all the members of the Working Group.

First and foremost, I believe it is important to understand this proposal for a National Horse Identity Program is an “industry-developed” plan – not a government-developed plan, or an Equine Canada-developed plan. Those involved in all the different discussions went far beyond the traditional Equine Canada membership. They included veterinarians, racetrack trainers, horse breeders, high-performance sport groups; grassroots recreational riding groups, trail riders, brand inspectors, and of course, horse owners from PEI to BC.

This proposal has also been developed while keeping abreast of similar issues, concerns, and developments in other countries, most notably with the United States equine industry.

Why would the Canadian horse industry need an identification, traceability and tracking system? What should it look like? Should it be simple, voluntary, and phased-in over time? Who should do what? When should it happen? What’s coming next?

It is beyond the scope of this article to repeat the considerable documentation that exists for the rationale that led to the development of the strategic plan by the Working Group that was proposed to the Breeds & Industry Delegate Assembly at the Convention. To ensure that you are adequately informed of the details, issues and concerns and the proposals in the strategic plan itself, you should avail yourself of this information (all the reports and background papers from the Task Force & Working Group discussions) situated on the Equine Canada web site at www.equinecanada.ca – then select the “Info Sessions for Updates on HORSE ID” button from the main page.

What is within the scope of this article is to update you about what took place, relative to this issue, at the Equine Canada Breeds & Industry Delegate Assembly, and to provide you with my perspective on the potential impacts with respect to the American Quarter Horse, the breed with which I am most familiar. Again, I am offering my personal opinion, not the official opinion of either the AQHA or the CQHA.

The Working Group met on the afternoon of Friday, February 11 th, to review the components of its National ID strategic plan and agreed to move the proposal forward to the Breeds & Industry Delegate Assembly for a decision. A public information session on the proposed National ID System, open to all Convention attendees was offered during the evening of Friday, February 11 th. Attendance at this session was higher than any previously experienced, and audience participation was both enthusiastic, even passionate at times!

On Saturday, February 12 th, the Breeds & Industry Delegate Assembly met with 29 stakeholder groups representing more than 50,000 members, including most of the Canadian light and heavy horse breed associations, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, Canadian Team Cattle Penning Association, Olds College, Alberta Equestrian Federation, Saskatchewan Horse Federation, Ontario Equestrian Federation and Manitoba Horse Council. In all there were approximately 60 representatives of different groups in attendance.

Dr. Edward Kendall, co-chair of the Equine ID Working Group spoke about the Working Group’s recommendations, describing it as a strategic plan at this point. He then made the motion to move this strategic plan forward to the next step, which is to develop a five-year implementation plan, including a financial model that outlines costs to owners and industry organizations. The motion was seconded, discussed and the question called, via a show of hands by all the people in attendance. The motion passed by majority vote, with two against the motion, and one who abstained. Each of the five CQHA voting delegates was given free rein to vote as they saw fit. I personally voted in favour of the motion because I believe that Canadian horse industry stakeholders both prefer and need a self-regulated approach to horse identification versus having some future government-mandatory plan imposed.

In a nut-shell, the ID plan proposed by the Working Group is for a standardized record for each horse – the official Horse Identification Record – that is stored in an Internet-accessible centralized database with strict controls on access to information. This record, standardized for all horses, will include three components:

• A UELN (Unique Equine Life Number)
• Owner-of-record contact information
• Standardized graphic and text description for each horse, based on the format currently in use for Coggins identification documents (e.g. information available by visual inspection of the horse matched to a breed registration paper document, in the case of a registered horse.)

These three fields of identification will be the minimum required national standards for all official Horse Identification Records. They do not restrict pedigree registries or sport organizations from requiring additional information as appropriate for the rules-of-business for their organizations (e.g. photos, DNA records, blood-typing, brands, tattoos, microchips, etc.)

The number format proposed for a UELN, which can be recognized by international pedigree registries, is a 15-digit number composed of three parts. The first three digits represent the international code for the country of birth of the horse (e.g. 124 is the country code for Canada). The second three digits represent a code number for the breed registry of origin, and the last nine digits represent a unique number (i.e. the horse’s registration number) in that breed pedigree.

A foundation principle of the Working Group’s discussions was to ensure that any proposed National ID system for livestock for horses was built on the existing systems already in place in the industry, respecting the considerable investment that the industry has made in developing those systems, such as breed pedigree registries. The key component to the proposed system is assigning a single, unique number to each horse that is used as the primary identification number for the horse’s lifetime.

For horses with existing pedigree registration records, assigning a UELN number could simply involve adding six digits at the front of an existing registration number. For example, Canadian Quarter Horse owners could obtain a UELN for their horses through the AQHA Stud Book and Registry. Once the UELN number is obtained for any horse, for its lifetime, the other vital ID information which may change from time-to-time is the owner-of-record, when a horse changes hands, due to lease or purchase. Since up-to-date ownership records are a key component of any livestock ID, tracking and traceability issues, it will be necessary to record any changes-of-ownership of registered American Quarter Horses to the appropriate parties, i.e. AQHA and/or the Canadian central Equine ID database. (N.B. The technology to obtain a UELN or to report changes-of-ownership is NOT currently in place - it has yet to be negotiated with individual breed pedigree registries.)

The CQHA invited Vel Evans, Equine ID Project Consultant, to make a presentation at its annual Board of Directors meeting held during the 2005 AQHA Annual Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, in mid-March. Key AQHA staff from the policy and technology sectors attended this presentation, in the interests of serving AQHA’s Canadian membership.

The objectives of this meeting were to i) bring the CQHA Board of Directors up-to-speed on the proposed Canadian National ID system; ii) to assist in identifying uniquely Canadian issues pertaining to this proposed system, including any potential trade barriers; iii) to be brought up-to-speed by AQHA policy staff on parallel National ID issues and concerns occurring in the USA; and iv) to obtain AQHA’s perspective about potential issues with respect to future technological implementation of the proposed Canadian system.

What is the AQHA’s official position on national equine identification programs? The AQHA has issued the following relevant public policy statements:

“Designation of Horses as Livestock
AQHA supports legislation and regulation that designates horses as livestock.

This position benefits members by classifying horses as livestock for federal emergency management assistance if necessary. Additionally, it ensures horses fall under USDA jurisdiction for disease surveillance.

Equine Identification
The American Quarter Horse Association supports the development of an equine identification system with the following criteria:

• 1. A universal identification number that includes the current AQHA registration number.
• 2. Owner information will not be made available under the Freedom of Information Act.
• 3. The method of permanent identification will be technology neutral.
• 4. Minimal cost to the equine owner for purchase and placement of the identification method.
• 5. The identification method will be developed by the equine industry and supported by the federal government.

This position benefits members by supporting the concept of a national identification system for disease surveillance purposes that will protect the health of horses in the United States.”

To summarize, the National Horse Identification program’s strategic plan has moved forward to the next step, to develop a five-year implementation plan, including a financial model that outlines costs to owners and industry organizations. To protect your individual interests, whether you own one pasture ornament or an entire herd, whether you just ride the ditches, or compete in competitive sport disciplines, you need to BE INFORMED and to GET INVOLVED. How can you do this? Educate yourself with the information on the Equine Canada web site: www.equinecanada.ca. And, take advantage of your earliest opportunity to attend a public information session on the National Horse ID Program (a schedule of upcoming sessions is also available on this web site).